MINNEAPOLIS -- As part of their growing pains, the young Minnesota Timberwolves are learning the hard way how to close out games.

Monday was a step in the right direction for Tom Thibodeau's squad.

Two days after blowing a late lead, the Timberwolves held onto a late advantage to escape with a 115-108 win over the visiting Phoenix Suns. It helped erase some of the sting from Saturday's loss to Houston, in which the Wolves let a 12-point lead with just over two minutes to play eventually turn into a loss.

"We learned from what happened the other day," Minnesota point guard Ricky Rubio said. "It's a good feeling. We want to get that feeling more often."

Phoenix got as close as 105-103 in the fourth quarter before the Timberwolves went on a 10-2 run to seal the win. During that stretch, center Karl-Anthony Towns came up big by grabbing his own rebound twice before converting a 3-point play. Towns' play helped Minnesota start to pull away from Phoenix in the closing minutes.

That type of effort from Towns was what Thibodeau has been wanting to see from his team as it has struggled to finish games in the fourth quarter.

"A great multiple-effort play. That's will and determination," Thibodeau said of Towns. "Often times, that's the difference right there between winning and losing."

Towns led the way for Minnesota with 28 points and 15 boards for his 18th double-double of the season -- and his eighth straight. Andrew Wiggins had 26 points in the win, and Zach LaVine chipped in 23.

Eric Bledsoe led all Suns scorers with 27 points on 9-of-20 shooting. Brandon Knight scored 21 points off the bench in the loss.

Minnesota improved to 8-19, while Phoenix fell to 8-20. It was the Timberwolves' first win at home in more than a month; they last won at Target Center back on Nov. 17 against Philadelphia, followed by a string of seven consecutive losses.

"This is our house. We've got to protect it at all costs," Towns said. "I think we're playing much better at home than we did last year."

Minnesota led by as many as 14 points in the first half before allowing Phoenix to get back into the game. Knight paced the Suns early, scoring 12 points in the first half to trim Minnesota's lead from 14 down to 62-54 at halftime.

Bledsoe and Devin Booker helped the Suns cut the deficit to just four points after three quarters as the Wolves led 91-87 heading into the fourth.

Bledsoe continued his hot hand into the fourth quarter, scoring on a layup that brought Phoenix to within four with 5:13 remaining. Booker then hit a jumper to make it a two-point game at 105-103.

Towns responded with a three-point play after grabbing his own miss, giving Minnesota a five-point cushion with 3:21 to play. LaVine later hit a 3-pointer to make it a 111-104 contest with under three minutes to go.

"We need to find toughness as a whole," Suns coach Earl Watson said. "We have unique offensive players that need to transition to play both ends of the court. The mindset has to shift. Young team, but the fight is always there."

Minnesota closed out the 10-2 run with a Towns layup that forced Phoenix to call a timeout with 1:34 to play, trailing 115-105.

"We were locked in, played great team basketball, got stops," Bledsoe said. "And when they did break away, I just felt like we didn't get the stops and made big shots."

Free throws were crucial for Minnesota on Monday. The Timberwolves finished 24 of 25 at the free-throw line. It wasn't until nearly four minutes into the fourth quarter that Minnesota missed its first attempt at the foul line after previously going 22 for 22.

NOTES: Third-year G Zach LaVine leads the Timberwolves in minutes this season. Coach Tom Thibodeau said part of that has to do with LaVine's improvement on defense. "I like the way he's progressing," Thibodeau said. "Zach, I think, is growing a lot defensively." ... The NBA announced Monday that, for the first time ever, NBA players as well as media members will be able to vote for the starting lineups for the 2017 NBA All-Star Game. Voting begins Christmas Day and concludes Jan. 16. The 2017 All-Star Game will be held Feb. 19 in New Orleans. ... Minnesota goes on the road for a one-game trip to face Atlanta on Wednesday. ... The Suns return home after two games away from Talking Stick Resort Arena to host the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.